Ornamental bird having rotatable wings



y 9, 1953 A. w. PETRASY 2,638,705

ORNAMENTAL BIRD HAVING ROTATABLE WINGS Filed 001:. 7, 1949 n. u, n, u." u

14 [176/ 5 W Pzi/"a yy @HOUWQS Patented May 19, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ORNAMENTAL BIRD HAVING ROTATABLE WINGS Albert W. Petrasy, Stratford, Conn.

ApplicationOctobcr 7, 1949, Serial No. 120,017

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to toys having windoperated moving parts, such as wind-driven rotary sails, wings or the like, and particularly to inexpensive toys of this type such as are frequently sold by hawkers at fairs, street celebrations and similar places.

In order to conserve space and permit carrying as large a number as possible, toys of this type are usually packed with the parts disassembled. salesmen assemble the parts to form complete toys as rapidly as they are sold. When business is brisk, it is important that this operation be accomplished quickly and easily to facilitate sales, and an object of this invention is to provide a novel, appealing, wind-operated toy the parts of which are so constructed and arranged as to contribute to both reducing the cost of manufacture and increasing the ease of assembly.

In one specific aspect, the invention can be employed to simulate a bird in flight and it is so described herein for disclosure purposes. However, it will be apparent that the difierent features constituting the invention are equally adapted to other forms of toys employing winddriven rotary members.

A feature of the invention is the formation of wind responsive members from relatively flat, flexible strips which may be a plastic or the like having spaced slits adjacent one end which adapt it to be easily and quickly mounted on flat supporting arms. The latter are so formed as to automatically impart to the flat strips the requisite angle and direction to render them operable by the wind.

A further feature is the use of inexpensive eyelets which can be cheaply produced on a screw machine, for mounting and supporting in a relatively thin body member, which may be of cardboard, or other suitable material, a rotary shaft on which the wind-operated wings are secured.

' Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a toy constructed in accordance with one embodiment of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevationlooking from the right of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the rotary supporting shaft for the rotating wind driven members.

As illustrated herein for the purposes of div closure, the invention is shown as a toy intended to simulate a bird in flight. In this embodiment it comprises a relatively thin body member 5. which may be cardboard or other suitable material, cut or stamped to provide a silhouette simulating a bird inflight. The body member is shown mounted on a supporting standard 6 in the form of a small diameter rod having a slotted end I in which the lower edge of the body portion 5 is frictionally held. The body portion can be provided with any color combination desired and the front end is shown as shaped and colored to provide a beak 8, eye 9, etc.

The wing action of a bird in flight is simulated by rotary wind-driven members ll resembling a birds wings and formed of thin flexible material which may be of a suitable plastic. The inner end portion of each wing member has spaced slits l2, 3 for mountin on a flat sheet metal supporting arm l4. A square opening it is punched in each arm l4 near one end. The punching forms prongs ii on. the sides of each opening which penetrate the surface of a wooden supporting shaft 18 on which the arms are mounted. The shaft extends rotatably through an unclinched eyelet is which is supported by a press lit in a clinched-over eyelet 2| riveted to the body portion 5.

The unclinched eyelet l9 forms a hollow bearing sleeve for the shaft 58 and is firmly held in place by the press fit. The eyelet head 22 at one end and the end face 23 at the other form. thrust bearings against which the sheet metal arms [4 supporting the wing members ll abut and thus properly center the shaft 58, as well as properly position the arms i l relative to the body member 5. As illustrated, each rotary member II is shaped to simulate a bird wing. Each supportlllg metal strip [4 is bent at such an angle as to hold each wing member! 9 at the proper angle relative to the body portion 5 so that when the toy is held with the flat side of the body member 5 toward the wind, the wing members ll will be caused to rotate and, in rotating, to simulate the Wing action of a bird in flight. As illustrated, suitable decorative feathers 24 are provided at the head and tail.

It will be apparent that the body member '5, the supporting stick it and the wing members I I can be packed and shipped separately and can be easily and quickly assembled by a salesman or other individual without difficulty, merely being necessary to fix the wing members II on the supporting arms it by slipping the latter through the slits i2 and i3 as shown in Fig. 1. This automatically imparts the desired angle to the wing members for operation by the wind. The body 3 member can then be easily mounted in the slotted end of the supporting rod 6 and the toy is complete.

It will be apparent that the invention can be variously modified and adapted and that portions of the improvements can be employed without others.

I claim:

A toy comprising a body member having a profile simulating a bird in flight and having an elongate shaft-receiving bearing member extending transversely thereof with the ends projecting from each side of the body, a rotary shaft extending through said bearing member and projecting outwardly beyond each end thereof, a pair of fiat sheet metal arms, each having a shaft-receiving opening therein provided with prongs on the outer side of each arm to bite into said shaft to rotate therewith and hold the arms on said shaft and against the ends of said bearing member and the shaft against longitudinal displacement in said bearing member, and a pair of wind-actuated wings having a profile simulating the wings of a bird in flight, said wings being provided with a pair of spaced transversely extending slits to receive the fiat arms and secure the wings thereto and against rotation thereon, said wings rotating said shaft by wind pressure.

ALBERT W. PETRASY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 128,869 Ffolliott July 9, 1872 279,630 Bartholomew June 19, 1883 1,123,633 Weiss Jan. 5, 1915 1,262,061 Kristofek Apr. 9, 1918 1,675,141 Scholl June 26, 1928 1,726,626 Miller Sept. 3, 1929 1,969,039 Rundle Aug. 7, 1934 2,035,531 Butcher Mar. 31, 1936 2,545,801 Wrazen Mar. 20, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 347,006 Germany Jan. 12, 1922 

